Apparatus for pulverizing litter and burning refuse



United States Patent Inventor lsrael ()serotf 6530 Northumberland St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15217 Appl. No. 865,296

Filed Oct. 10, 1969 Patented Dec. 29, 1970 APPARATUS FOR PULVERIZING LITTER AND BURNING REFUSE 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl. 110/8 Int. Cl. F23g 5/00 Field ofSearch.... ll0/7, 8,18

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l2/l 967 Stevens 3.467.035 9/1969 Anderson etal no/s Primary ExaminerKenneth Wt Sprague Attorney-William B Jaspert PATENTEB 0511291979 355G541 sum 1 or 3 INVENTOR. F g, 1, ISRAEL osmoff BY (5W w PATENTEU UEB29 19m SHEET 2 BF 3 INVENTOR.

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APPARATUS FOR PULVERIZING LITTER AND BURNING REFUSE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention- The invention is directed to a device for preventing the accumulation of garbage refuse and litter in densely populated areas where the accumulation invites rodents and disease infected insects, together with the pollution of the atmosphere resulting from such refuse.

2. Description of the Prior Art Currently sewage grinding units utilize cutting blade comminuters. They are rugged and expensive and do not pulverize, but chop. which requires frequent replacement of sharpened blades. Cardboardboxes or the like, cannot be fed into such devices because the cutters are protected by grillwork.

Where electric burners have been employed, control devices on the market for balancing flame temperature with heater element temperature are sophisticated and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant invention utilizes a pulverizing disc made of a one-piece cast or hardenable alloy to give it long life. It has no close tolerance cutting edges that would be destroyed by glass or an accidental coat hanger or the like. The container is provided with sloping sides to prevent pieces from lodging in the sides. The centrifugal action of the disc should be sufficient to toss particles of rubbish through an opening on to a conveyor belt that carries it over a burner. The conveyor is made of steel belting and passes over knurled drums. The movement of the belt flakes off the ash that may accumulate thereon. A simple control is provided to time the pulverizing and burning in accordance with the load requirement. For example, if the load is small. a timer can be set lower and visa versa for a larger load.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS F IG. 1 is a partial section partially in elevation of a pulverizer and refuse burner embodying the principles of this invention taken along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view partially in section through the combustion chamber.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the pulverizing disc located at the bottom of a refuse-receiving hopper.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view showing the relation of the principle parts of the pulveri'zer and burner.

FIG. 5 is an electrical schematic of the power drive and control mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the several FIGS. of the drawing the numeral 1 designates a container constructed of sheet metal having some reinforcing or stiffening elements to secure or weld it thereto. The container has sloping walls 3 and 4 terminating in an opening 5. A cover 6 with a handle 7 constitutes the closure at the top of the container 1.

A pulverizing disc 8 ismade of an alloy casting which may be heat treated and hardened to give long life. The disc has no close tolerance cutting edges that can be destroyed by glass or a piece of material such as a coat hanger and tin can. The sloping walls 3 and 4 prevent pieces from lodging in the corners and escaping the disc and the centrifugal action of the disc is sufficient to toss pieces of the refuse through the rectangular opening 5 on to a conveyor belt 9 which is mounted for endless movement in a combustion chamber 10 which is adjacent the opening 5 and secured to wall 3 by a spacer 11 and by the flange members 12. The combustion chamber is provided with insulating material 13 and an inner liner 14 which is offset to form a flange 15 against which a flange 16 of an ash removal box l6aabuts when the box is closed. The opposite end of the combustion chamber has an opening 17 through which air is admitted to support combustion.

The conveyor 9 IS made of steel belting and is provided with angle pieces 18 that engage the refuse dumping on to the belt and conveys it over the flames 19 produced by a burner generally designated by the numeral 19a. by the pair of knurled drums 20 and 21, the latter being driven by a motor 22 shown in FIG. 2. A flue 23 is provided at the top of the combustion chamber 10 to remove the products of combustion. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the pulverized disc is provided with conical or pyramidal-shaped teeth 25 having no sharp edges that would blunt or wear away. A flame spreader blade 27 is provided on the inside of the belt which is preferably of woven stainless steel and the numerals 29 and 30 are supports for the conveying and burner system. The burner and conveyor may be removed in one piece for servicing.

The burner 19 as shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a gas burner pilot and regulator unit 32 connected to a fuel line 33. The drive motor 35 for the pulverizing disc 25 is mounted on a supporting bracket 36 and has a start and stop switch 37 and 38 respectively and a timer 39 shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing. As shown in FIG. 5, the timer 39 is an adjustable self-reset device and a fuse 40 is connected to the on-and-off switch 37 and 38. The gas valve 32, FIG. 2, is provided with a solenoid coil 320 as shown in FIG. 5 and the timer 39 is provided with a motor 390 shown in FIG. 5. The circuit of FIG. 5 is volts, 6O -cycle AC and the pulverizing disc motor 35 may be a one horse power motor driven at 740 rpm.

It is evident from the forgoing description of the invention that a combined litter and refuse pulverizing and burning device made in accordance therewith provides a rather inex pensive and efficient means of disposing of litter and garbage in dwellings and the like, leaving just a residue of ash which can be readily removed and disposed of without any accumulation problems and that various modifications can be made in the details of constructionwithout departing from the principals herein set forth.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for pulverizing and burning refuse which consists of: 1

a housing in the shape of a hopper having rectangular walls and supported in a manner to have two of the walls sloping downwardly for accumulating the contents of the container in a lower corner region;

a pulverizing disc mounted against one of the bottom walls of said container against which the refuse is forced by gravity to be pulverized;

a combustion chamber adjacent said container and communicating with said container by an opening adjacent the pulverizing disc;

said combustion chamber having a burner element and having an endless belting mounted on dru ms with means pro vided on the surface of the belting for receiving and moving the pulverized particles passing into the combustion chamber through said opening;

said combustion chamber having an air inlet adjacent the bottom of one end thereof;

a flue removing the products of combustion from the top thereof;

said combustion chamber being provided with an ash removable box below said conveyor and an ash dispersal blade above said removable box for distributing the ash in said box; and

a motor for said pulverizing disc and a motor for said conveyor.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the pulverizing disc motor and the conveyor motor drive may be regulated by an adjustable self-reset timer in accordance with the requirements of the load charged into the container. 

